Intellectual capital collectively refers to knowledge resources stored in various forms within organizations. Since intangible resources, instead of tangible resources, actually contribute to generating a competitive advantage, the recognition of the importance of intellectual capital has been growing. Nevertheless, organizations and researchers experience difficulties in identifying and managing intellectual capital to increase the performance of different types of innovation projects. Responding to these challenges, this dissertation first theoretically elaborates four key dimensions of intellectual capital, including human capital, structural capital, social capital and relational capital. Second, based on this framework, key elements of intellectual capital are identified. Third, using survey data from manufacturing companies in the U.S., this dissertation empirically examines how intellectual capital elements influence the performance of incremental innovation projects and radical innovation projects differently. The results suggest that social capital and relational capital elements should be carefully managed in response to different types of innovation projects.
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